Might college football move to NFL Lite, a system for its most elite teams? ‘Could happen’

Stop for a second and think about all that’s changed in college football over the past two years.

The list is as unbelievable as it is long.

OU hitched its schooner to Texas and left the Big 12 for the SEC, which among other things, ended a rivalry with Oklahoma State that has been played on the gridiron every year since 1910. The Big Ten added two teams from Los Angeles ― Los Angeles! ― then it added two more from states with Pacific Ocean coastlines. The Pac-12, a conference that has been known by different names but has been around since 1915, is on the brink of extinction with four schools headed to the Big 12 and two to the Big Ten.

Anything seems possible.

So what about this: an NFL-like system for college football’s most elite programs.

It’s something at least one Power Five coach believes is not merely possible but likely.

“This conference realignment’s gonna settle for a while,” Oklahoma State’s Mike Gundy said the other day, “ but it could move again, and it could move to an NFL system real fast.”

His over-under on how many years before such a thing could happen?

“Three and a half,” he said.

More: Oklahoma State football’s Arland Bruce IV away from team amid Iowa gambling investigation

OU and OSU mascots Boomer, left, and Pistol Pete will not be seeing each other often in the near future.

Moving to such a system, or NFL Lite some have termed it, is a notion that’s been floated before, and truthfully, there are myriad reasons it might not work. What about other sports? What about lawsuits that would surely be filed? What about Title IX rules that would surely be violated?

Lots of details would need to be worked out, none any less significant than determining what teams would be left out. It would be a difficult task ― only four years ago when The Athletic did a piece exploring the…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/might-college-football-move-nfl-120051684.html?src=rss

Author : The Oklahoman

Publish date : 2023-08-13 12:00:51

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